Results 6,721-6,740 of 10,319 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: 123. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government how many new homes have been delivered since the launch of the Housing for All plan in September 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6808/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: It is now two and half years since the Minister introduced the Housing for All plan. What is his assessment as to how the plan is working, by reference to the key indicators in respect of housing such as planning permissions, constructions and commencements? Second, the reason the Minister and the Government introduced the Housing for All plan was that we recognised that we needed to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister for his answer. Two things have been apparent. First, a new plan was needed. When we came into government, we recognised that something needed to change. That is why the Government deserves to be commended on spending time on putting together a new plan, namely, as the Minister said, Housing for All. Second, it is difficult and it is a slow process to turn around...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister for his answer. It is clear that this is a problem that cannot be solved without State investment. That is why underlying the Housing for All plan is a commitment that we are going to invest significant amounts - €5 billion per annum as he indicated - in trying to increase housing in the country. There is another sphere, which is the people who have not been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Governor and the deputy governors for coming before the committee. I will start by asking some questions about the rate of inflation and the consequent interest rate rises. It has been the case that the ECB has been increasing interest rates for 18 to 20 months now. Is the Governor surprised that those increases have not had the ultimate desired effect of bringing inflation...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: As Mr. Makhlouf said, it is working because the rate of inflation is declining and has gone down from 8% or 9% at the height. It has come down.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: I believe it is down now to 3.2% in Ireland.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: Is it the Central Bank's objective to see inflation come down to 2%? When it reaches 2%, does Mr. Makhlouf believe that the monetary policy will have achieved its objective?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: When does Mr. Makhlouf think that will happen?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: As inflation declines, is it not given consideration that maybe interest rates can decline slightly as well or is the Central Bank waiting for it to reach its objective?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: Without seeking to hold Mr. Makhlouf to any of his deliberations in the ECB, is it likely that in 2024 members of the public will see a decline in the marginal lending facility of the ECB?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: With regard to the timeline we have seen in trying to get on top of inflation, is Mr. Makhlouf surprised at the time it has taken for us to be able to resolve it and get it down to levels he finds appropriate?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: On the second page of Mr. Makhlouf's opening statement, he referred to growth rates predicted for the domestic economy. The statement said that those current forecasts could be affected by a number of factors, including base effects in the post-pandemic normalisation, which mostly relate to the unwinding of the exceptional level of physical investment in the State by multinational...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: Was that post pandemic?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: Does the Central Bank regard that as quite normal? What do the witnesses believe is the cause of that unwinding of the investment by the multinational sector?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: Are there threats to the continuing success of the multinational sector in Ireland? It is a very important part of our economic success. What are the concerns of the Central Bank in respect of the continuing growth of the multinational sector in Ireland? Does it have a view on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank Mr. Madouros for the answer. It was mentioned that mortgage switching has played a role in ensuring that customers can access what they consider to be the best option. Mr. Makhlouf said that credit unions are beginning to play a growing role in mortgage switching. Is that happening quite frequently? What level of mortgage switching to credit unions is happening? Is it something...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: The committee has looked at the whole area of trying to ensure that consumers are protected from fraud. A number of social media companies came before us, as well as financial institutions. What type of fraud is the Central Bank identifying as being most prevalent at present for consumers who engage with financial services institutions?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland (14 Feb 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: A lot of deception and fraud seems to arise from people being fooled by what they see on social media or a social media company website. They are led to believe that there is an investment that they should get involved in or someone else is promoting a product. It is difficult for the Central Bank to regulate that as it has no responsibility for social media companies.